Hopeful Darkness
by Nyota Malfoy
Summary: It was cold and dark. She was in her room; she knew that because she saw him and felt him dragging her across the floor from his room to hers. He threw her into her room after putting in the code, and then he left. Left her to drown in her regret of ever trusting him./ / Follow Ash Pike, and her friend Sara, in this exciting story. Kirk/OC. Going through Star Trek:2009.
1. Chapter 1: Meet Ash and Sara

Hopeful Darkness

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Chapter 1  
Ash's P.O.V

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I was thrilled, to say the least. I never thought I would be accepted into Starfleet.

Packing my bag, I thought of how close I was to making my dream come true. My dream was to go into space and explore strange new worlds, which my father was currently busy doing. I watched as the hours ticked by. I called my boyfriend of 3 months, William.

"Hello?"

"You won't believe what happened!", I shouted excitedly.

"Let me guess, you finished your science assignment?", he answered.

"No you idiot, it's much more exciting than that!".

"You got an A+ on your maths test?".

"You know what? Just forget it. I'll tell you. I GOT ACCEPTED INTO STARFLEET!", I screamed the last part into the phone happily.

"Wow, that's great! Now we can hang out every day! When are you coming here?", he asked, I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm coming tomorrow, and I am so excited to spend more time with you!", I said.

Just then, I got another phone call. Checking who it was, I was overjoyed. I said bye to William and answered the new call.

"GUESS WHAT!". Screamed the familiar voice I've heard just for over 2 years.

"You got accepted into Starfleet?", I asked happily.

"How did you know?", Sara asked, curious as to how I guessed correctly.

"Because I got accepted too!", I exclaimed.

We talked for a good one hour before her boyfriends' voice could be heard in the background calling her. She hung up the phone after saying bye and I got back to doing my assignment. I was thinking about going to a bar with Sara to celebrate. But the thing is, I could just think about it. You see, Sara and I were still in high school, although she was a year older than me, she still wasn't at legal age to go to a bar and neither was I.

After half an hour, while I was reading the last Harry Potter book; The Deathly Hallows, Sara called me.

"Hey Sara, what's up?".

"Can I come over?". She asked, she sounded like she had been crying.

"Are you okay? What happened?", I asked.

"I'll talk when we meet. Can I come?".

"Yeah, sure! Come over."

"K". And she hung up.

I heard the doorbell and ran to the door. There she was, looking like a mess. Her hair which was always perfect was up in a messy bun, she was wearing an oversized black hoodie and black track pants. Her eyes were red and puffy, probably because she had been crying. I stepped aside to let her come inside and pulled her into a hug. She started sobbing loudly on my shoulder and I wondered what had happened. We sat on the couch and she told me how her boyfriend of 6 months had left her for another girl. I comforted her and suggested that we go to a bar (probably sneak into a bar) and have some fun!

So, we got into our fancy clothes. Or more like, Sara got into her fancy clothes. I didn't like fancy stuff. I would much rather just stick with my casual t-shirt and jeans but I needed to look older than my age to get into the bar so I decided to wear a blue knee-length dress with black stockings and black heeled boots. Sara was wearing a black dress which rested just above her knees paired with silver strappy heels. Her hair was up in a loose chignon while I just kept my hair open. We left my apartment together and started towards the closest bar.

When we reached the bar, I was quite surprised to see that there were no guards to stop us. Sara and I gave each other a surprised but somewhat relieved look and stepped inside.

Half an hour and a couple of lightly alcoholic drinks, Sara was dancing with some cute guy on the dance floor and I told her I was going to get a drink. After I ordered a Coca-Cola with ice, I was waiting for the bartender to bring my drink when I saw a girl walk up next to me.

"Hey", she said, smiling at me.

"Hi", I shyly replied, I wasn't really good with talking to strangers and wasn't really an extrovert. I smiled anyways.

"What's your name?", she asked. She looked older than me, maybe somewhere between 24 and 28.

"Ash, what's yours?", I answered.

"Uhura, Nyota Uhura", she said. She narrowed her eyes for a moment but it was quickly replaced by look of realization.

"Wait a minute. Ash? As in, Ash Pike?!", she exclaimed.

"Yeah, the one and only", I said sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck. Just then the bartender came with my drink. I paid for it and said thanks.

"I've heard so much about you, you were in London, right?", she asked and I wondered just how much people know about me.

"Yeah, I was before moving to Australia. I basically did my primary education in London, then my high school until the start of year 9 in Australia, then I came here", I answered. I was surprised at how freely I was able to talk to this girl who I've just met.

"So when did you move here?", she asked.

"About six months ago."

"Wait, who do you live with?", she asked getting suspicious.

"I live alone but I came here with my friend who I met in Australia."

"And how old is your friend?"

"A year older than me?", I answered, not liking where this conversation was heading.

"How old are you?", she asked narrowing her eyes once more but a slight smile was still on her face.

"Um, 23…It's getting really hot in here, isn't it?", I lied, desperately trying to change the subject.

"I know you're lying, how old are you really?"

"Why do you think I'm lying?"

"Because you look much younger than 23, I don't think you're even 18 years old."

"Okay, you're right, I'm not 23, but please don't tell anyone. If my father hears about this, I'll be in big trouble. I'm 14. I know I'm not supposed to be here but-", I was nervously rambling on until Nyota cut me off.

"Hey, it's fine! I'm not going to tell anyone. But to be honest, you shouldn't be here, mostly Starfleet members come here. If they see you, most of them will recognize you. So, I suggest you either stay in the shadows or cover your face up," she advised.

"Thanks," I said and she turned to call the bartender and started ordering drinks for her and her friends. After she placed the order, a man came up to the bar stand and started talking to her. I took that as my que to leave and I quietly said a 'see you later' to Nyota. I spotted Sara and went over to her.

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh as I saw her dancing to 'Uptown Funk' by Bruno Mars. She looked so carefree there just letting her hair down. I was happy for her, at least she was not crying her eyes out over a stupid boy.

Just then I heard a loud crack followed by a groan. I snapped my head in the direction of the sound and saw a fight breaking out between the man that was talking to Nyota before and 4 guys in similar red uniforms which I guessed meant they were Cadets studying at Starfleet. Everyone in the bar was silent and just looking at the boys and the music was turned off too.

Nyota was trying to get them to stop but they just kept throwing punches back and forth. One of the Cadets was just about to punch the man in his already bloody face when a really loud whistle broke the silence currently occupying the bar.

A _familiar_ whistle. My _dad's_ whistle. I turned my head towards the door, where I heard the whistle from. As soon as his face came into my view, I froze. He was actually here. And I was in deep, _very deep_ trouble. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice me and told everyone to get out of the bar. Sara and I tried to slip into the crowd and go outside but as soon as I put one foot out the door, he called out my name.

"Ash? Sara?"

"Hello uncle! I mean- sorry sir, hello sir!", Sara stuttered while I just kept my head down, ready for him to shout at me.

"Hello Sara," he smiled. "Can you please take Ash and wait outside for me?", he said.

"Sure unc- _sir_ , sorry sir!". She said and dragged me to a bench just outside the bar.

"Why did we _ever_ choose to come to this bar?! Out of all the places, we just _had_ to come here!" I exclaimed, quite guilty about the fact that I broke my fathers' trust.

"I know right! What were we _thinking_?!" Sara said, quite loudly might I add.

"Hey! You're supposed to be telling me something like 'it will be alright' or 'it's okay, I'm with you', not agreeing with me?!" I whisper-yelled.

"Okay Ash. Everything will be alright, don't worry, _'I'm with you till the end of the line.'_ Happy now?" She asked sarcastically, smiling a toothy smile.

"Ugh. Forget it, sorry. I'm just upset. I've never broken his trust and I just feel really bad. You know?" I said with watery eyes.

"I get it Ash. I know you, I know your dad, and I know that you love your dad and he loves you too. So, of course you feel bad for breaking his trust. But he loves you, so he'll probably understand." She said, giving me a reassuring smile. "But he will probably ground you." She added light-heartedly and we both started laughing.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that you are grounded with me." I countered.

"I know…. that's exactly why I hate you." She said giving me a mock-glare.

We talked for about 15 mins before diverting our attention to the bar, where my dad and the man from the fight were talking. I wondered why he wanted to talk to him alone?

Just then, my dad came out the door but there was no sign of the man. He spotted us and started walking towards us. My hands were shaking as he came closer. Sara kept reassuring me that it will be okay.

"Why were you in a bar?" he asked once he reached us. I could see the disappointment in his eyes and that just made me feel guiltier.

"I'm so sorry, I know it's not an excuse but I just thought that we could have some fun seeing that Sara just broke up with her boyfriend and she was crying her eyes out just about 2 hours ago and she looked so sad that I just felt lik-" I was rambling on until he cut me off.

"Hey, it's okay. You just wanted to help your friend and I accept that," he said ruffling my hair and smiling. "As long as you don't do this again, I'll forgive you."

"I won't! I swear I'll never do it again!" I said smiling.

"But that doesn't mean you won't be grounded." He said turning serious again. "You too Sara."

"What?! Why me?" she whined.

"Because you went with her too and you are not of legal age too. I'm going to talk to your parents about this." He said seriously.

Sara and I looked at each other fearfully.

"I'm just kidding kiddos, this was your first warning. But if you do this again, you will be in trouble, am I making myself clear?" he said, smiling again.

"Crystal!" We both said together.

"Now that that's out of the way, come here," he pulled me in for a hug and I held onto him tightly. I hadn't seen him for more than 4 months. We did video call but that wasn't the same as meeting in person.

"I missed you so much," I cried into his chest.

"I missed you too, cupcake," he said running a hand over my head.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" I asked, pulling away from the hug.

"I wanted to surprise you tomorrow morning when you went to the shuttle. I didn't imagine I would be seeing you _here_." He said, his lips pressing into a thin line.

"Oh…" I laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Let's go home, I'm hungry." Sara said, saving me from this situation.

We all agreed to go to my apartment and got into my dad's car. A short drive later, he pulled into the parking lot and we got in the lift to go to my floor. Once I opened the door, my dad told me that my apartment was quite neat and tidy, to be honest, I expected him to say that. He was always quite formal in his way of talking, but there were some times when he would just talk freely and that was mostly just when he was with me.

Sara cooked pasta for dinner for all 3 of us as she was the best chef out of us all. We all ate and chatted for some time.

My dad said that he had to report to the shuttle, which was taking us to Starfleet academy, early tomorrow morning so he went to his own temporary apartment as it was closer to where the shuttle was. And I just laid on my bed thinking about how my life was going to change from tomorrow.

I woke up to my alarm ringing at 6:00am and I went to the guest room where Sara was still sleeping, or so I thought. I walked into her room and when I was just about to pull the blanket off Sara, I felt someone put their hands over my eyes. Being the sensitive creature that I am, I screamed at the top of my lunges. Just then, the person identified themselves as Sara and I immediately relaxed and I realised that she was just messing with me.

After having breakfast, we called a cab and loaded our bags onto the boot and set off for the shuttle. We reached our destination about 15 mins later and unloaded our luggage which was then put on another shuttle carrying cargo.

I saw my dad standing outside the shuttle and we approached him.

"Good morning Dad!" I greeted him excitedly.

"Hello uncle! Ugh, sorry, I mean, hello sir!" Sara said. She used to call my dad, uncle when I used to video call him and she was just so used to calling him as uncle. She would have to change her habit and start calling him 'sir' and I would just be laughing every time she says uncle.

"Good morning, girls! It's okay Sara, you'll get used to it. And you missy," he said pointing his index finger towards me. "You won't be able to call me 'dad' at the academy, you should get used to calling me 'sir' too." He said chuckling a bit, while patting my head.

I sighed, "yep, I guess I'll have to." I said.

"Enough talking kids, get inside and belt up!" He said. We went inside and sat down while he stood outside the shuttle. He looked like he was expecting someone.

We heard a bike pull up outside and just after a few moments, the man from yesterday walked in through the door of the shuttle. Sara and I were desperately trying not to laugh when he banged his head on a low beam and just walked it off as if nothing happened. He sat down right across us and pulled his seat belt on. He looked at me and nodded, with a smile on his face showing his teeth.

I just then realised how beautiful and blue his eyes were. I could look at those eyes all day long. His hair looked so soft, a sandy, light brown colour. And when he smiled, I felt like my heart melted right there.

Sara gave me nudge with her elbow and I realised I was staring. I blushed and muttered a quick sorry to him and he just brushed it off, saying "It's okay", while laughing.

Nyota was sitting a few seats away from us and I greeted her with a 'hello' when she looked at me. Just as she was turning her head, she saw the man and he called out something to her but I was too busy talking to Sara to hear.

Sara stopped talking and looked behind me where a lady in uniform was arguing with a man with messy black hair. He looked like he was in his late twenties, early thirties. He was saying something about him having aviophobia but was eventually seated on a seat across Sara, beside the man who I was falling for.

"I might throw up on you," the black-haired man said to the light brown haired man. _I really need to know their names, or at least make them up,_ I thought to myself. Let's call the man with the blue eyes, _Blue_ , and the other man with the messy hair, _Grumpy,_ because he looked grumpy. Even now.

"I think these things are pretty safe," Blue said to Grumpy.

"Don't pander to me, kid," Grumpy started, "One tiny crack in the hull, and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. And wait till you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles. See if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding! Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence." Sara and I looked at each other and we both had horrified expressions on our faces.

"Well I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space." Blue replied, he had the same expression as us on his face.

"Yeah, well, I got nowhere else to go. The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones." Grumpy said. I felt bad for calling him _grumpy_ now, after all, he does have a reason to be angry.

He pulled out a small flask and took a sip from it. He then offered it to Blue who accepted it.

"Jim Kirk," Blue said, before taking a sip. So, at least I know his name now.

"McCoy, Leonard McCoy," Grumpy replied. McCoy, Leonard McCoy, that's a nice name.

I turned to Sara and saw her staring at McCoy. I nudged her with my elbow and whispered, "He's looking at you," she quickly came back to reality and said sorry to him.

He just nodded and said, "It's okay," I don't know if that was my imagination, but I thought I saw a hint of a smile on his face. He might not be all grumpy after all.

"What's your name?", Kirk asked, looking at me.

"Ash." I replied shyly while he just kept smiling.

"Well, nice to meet you, Ash," He said, nodding his head.

"Likewise," I said, nodding my head.

He poked McCoy in the shoulder and nodded his head towards us.

"Hi Ash," McCoy greeted with a small smile.

"Hello," I replied.

"I'm Sara. Thanks for asking, by the way!" Sara said, sarcastically.

We all chuckled, well except McCoy, he just smiled, and went back to our own personal conversations. Which meant, Sara and I went back to talking about everything, more like, Sara was talking my ear off about how good McCoy looked, while Kirk and McCoy just made small talk and drank from the flask.

After a while, Sara fell asleep and I started thinking about how my life would change. I realised just how much everything would change. To top it all off, I felt so bad for thinking like that about Jim Kirk when I had a boyfriend, who I was going to meet in a few hours. I decided that I would deal with all of this later and think about the good things that would happen. After all, starting a new life is as much exciting as it is scary.

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A/N: Hey guys! This is my first time writing a fanfiction story, so I apologise for any mistakes. Please review and let me know what you think of the story!


	2. Chapter 2: At the Starfleet Academy

Chapter 2  
Ash's P.O.V

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As soon as we touched down, there were a thousand thoughts running through my head. Sara and I walked out of the shuttle and met my dad outside. He said he'll meet us later because he had some duties to perform. I looked around for William but he was nowhere to be found, so I thought I'll just look for him afterwards. We looked around the unfamiliar place in awe. There were tall buildings and people everywhere. A woman in a grey uniform approached us and started directing us to our designated areas to get our PADDs (Portable Auxiliary Data Display). They split us up to take us to our dormitories. The boys went with another guy official and the woman took us to our dorms. Before going, we gave a small wave to Kirk and McCoy to say 'bye'.

Our luggage was already taken to our rooms so we didn't have to worry about it. Sara and I were assigned to the same room and we were both ecstatic. We set up the code to enter our room and went inside. Everything was perfect inside, there were bookshelves, two study tables, two beds, and a kitchen! But best of all, there were two separate bathrooms, so now we didn't have to worry about who goes first in the morning! I was so excited!

"Did you check your timetable?" Sara asked. She was going through her PADD while I was checking out our room.

"No, I didn't. When is our first class?" I replied.

"My classes start tomorrow; I don't know about yours. It probably starts at the same time but you should check, just to make sure." She suggested.

"Good idea," I took out my PADD and looked through it. I found my timetable and saw that my classes were indeed starting tomorrow morning. Quite late might I add. I was used to waking up between 5:30 am and 6:30 am, thanks to the disciplinary habits that my father drilled into my brain at a young age.

My first class was at 8:30 am. Pathology. With someone with the initials, L.M.

To be honest, a lot of the teachers, admirals and other officials knew me because of my father. I had been to a lot of Starfleet's functions and get-togethers with him. But I don't think I knew anyone with the initials L.M.

 _Might be someone new_ , I thought.

Sara started talking about McCoy again when I heard a lot of noise coming from outside and poked my head out the door to see what was going on. Crowds of students were moving towards the mess hall. I looked at the clock and realised that it was time for dinner.

"Sara! Let's go, it's time for dinner, I'm starving!" I exclaimed. Pulling her off the bed and towards the door.

"Okay, okay! I'm coming! You're gonna rip my arm off, you, violent creature!" she shouted while being dragged by me.

We walked into the mess hall and were surprised by what we saw. There were definitely way more than 100 people. I wasn't used to being around so many people as in my last school, there were only about 200 people.

We found the counter and got our trays of food. I spotted an empty table near the corner of the room and told Sara to follow me. Once we put down our trays on the table and sat down, Sara pointed behind me and gestured for me to look. I turned around and saw Kirk and McCoy holding their trays and looking around for an unoccupied table. I quickly turned around.

"Don't do what I think you're gonna do. Please!" I whispered, a bit too forcefully. But, of course, she did it anyways.

"Hey! Kirk, McCoy! Come here!" She shouted and waved her hands over her head to get their attention. I looked at her with my narrowed eyes. They probably didn't even want to sit with us.

"Hello, girls! Fancy meeting you again!" He said in a fake British accent to mock me. I smiled, shyly, and said 'hello'. McCoy just nodded and said 'hi', with a small smile, I must add. He looked better than how he looked in the shuttle. They sat down, opposite each other, on the square table. I looked at Sara, who was, as expected, staring at McCoy. I attempted to kick her under the table.

"Ah!" Kirk yelped. _I accidentally kicked_ _him_ _, I'm so screwed,_ I thought.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! That wasn't meant for you, does it hurt? I'm actually really sorry-" I kept apologising until he cut me off.

"Hey! It's fine, it doesn't hurt. Who were you trying to kick anyways?" He asked, chuckling a bit. I nodded towards Sara, who was still staring at McCoy. McCoy, who was just eating his dinner with his left hand and doing something on his PADD with his right hand, oblivious of everything happening around him. Kirk looked back at me and raised an eyebrow as if asking me 'what's going on?'. I told him how Sara kept talking about him all day. He laughed quietly and started eating his food.

"So, which field are you studying in?" he asked, putting his spoon down.

"Medical and tactical," I said, finishing my dinner.

"Medical?" McCoy looked up from his PADD and said.

"Yep, I've always wanted to help heal people," I elaborated for McCoy. He nodded his head and had an impressed expression on his face.

"Why tactical then? That's the complete opposite of healing people, you know?" Kirk asked with an amused smirk on his face.

"I also want to protect people…and myself," I said, looking down at my hands on my lap. Sara looked at me, sympathetically. My eyes started watering, remembering _that day_.

"Did something happen?" McCoy asked, softly, in a brotherly tone, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I-I-," I stuttered. I wiped some of the tears that had fallen down my cheeks and started again. "Last year, four seniors in our school used to bully us. One day, they cornered us on our way to class in an empty corridor. They started calling us names and insulting us. Just when I thought that it couldn't get any worse, they slapped Sara," All three of us looked at Sara, who had an angry expression on her face, as she remembered that day, I continued my story. "I lost my cool and started to retaliate. I tried to kick one of them but they grabbed my leg and threw me to the ground, where I hit my head. Sara punched the guy who slapped her, so hard, he knocked his head on the wall and passed out. The other three guys got scared. I was feeling light-headed from hitting my head on the ground so I was still lying there. One of the guys kicked me in my stomach and pulled the unconscious guy with him and they all ran away. I have, I had a pretty bad bruise on my torso. I told my father about this…incident and he had those guys expelled. He made Sara and I join self-defence classes," I started to sober up and wiped all my tears with my sleeve. "We learnt all about different fighting styles and how to protect ourselves and others if needed. Now, it's just become a passion for me. Sorry, you guys must be bored, I don't know why I told you all of that. Sorry." I looked down at my lap again, on the verge of tears.

"We're glad you told us, Ash," McCoy said, patting my shoulder. Kirk took my left hand and held it in both his hands. _His hands are so big compared to mine,_ I thought.

"We'll always be here for you guys," Kirk said, still holding my hand, looking at me and Sara. I gave him a grateful smile.

"Yeah, we'll protect you and Sara to the best of our capabilities." McCoy put his hand on Sara's shoulder.

"Guess we're friends now!" Sara exclaimed, always the one to lighten up the mood.

We all laughed and went to the garden for a small walk. McCoy and Kirk were walking behind us; they were talking about something but I couldn't hear them. Sara and I were planning out what to do tomorrow when I felt two hands tickling me. I turned my head to the side to see that Sara was being tickled too and we both were laughing like idiots. We turned around and saw Kirk and McCoy tickling us.

I tried to swat Kirk's hands away but I was too distracted and he was too strong. Sara was also trying to get out of McCoy's arms. I ended up falling with Kirk on top of me. He was resting his elbows on either side of me as to not crush me under him. I was still laughing but as I opened my eyes and looked at him above me, I stopped abruptly and he started grinning.

He got up and offered a hand to help me up, I took his hand and he pulled so hard that I went crashing into his chest. I sheepishly backed away and said sorry, while keeping my head down. He lifted my chin up with his index finger and thumb to face him. He said it's okay and hugged me. I found it weird but smiled and hugged him back anyways.

Just then, someone cleared their throat and I looked over to see McCoy looking at someone behind me. Sara, who was standing beside McCoy had a worried look on her face as she gestured for me to turn around. I looked behind me and froze. The colour from my face drained as I saw William standing behind us with an angry expression on his face. I had never actually seen him this furious before. I got scared and took a small step back. Sara came to me and squeezed my hand to tell me everything's going to be okay. Kirk and McCoy were just looking at us with confused expressions on their faces.

"Hello, William!" Sara exclaimed with a fake smile on her face.

"Get out of the way Sara. I need to talk to her," He said, forcefully. He tried to push Sara with one hand and grab me with his other hand but McCoy and Kirk came and stood in front of us, effectively blocking him from us.

He tried to get a hold of my hand again and I flinched. Just then, Kirk's hand shot out, he grabbed William's hand and yanked it back. William's face held an annoyed expression as he looked to Kirk's face but it quickly changed to an apologetic one. But only I could see that the expression was fake. He was a lot of things but submissive was not one of them. I knew that he would never back down without a fight. I knew that he was probably up to something else. I decided not to show, the fear that I felt, on my face. I honestly didn't know why I was scared because he was the most loving boyfriend I ever had, _even though he is my first one,_ my mind added. But there was something in his eyes that I'd never seen before, and I didn't like it.

"I didn't mean to scare you, baby," he said to me. Kirk and McCoy were even more confused now. I pushed in between the two guys and stood before William. He took my hand in both his hands and looked into my eyes. "I'm sorry," he said and hugged me. For some reason, I couldn't hug him back, I just stood there.

"Hey! Who do you think you are? You can't just go around hugging any girl you like!" Kirk almost shouted.

"I'm her boyfriend, I can do whatever the hell I want with her," William spoke through gritted teeth. "On the other hand, who are you?"

"He's your boyfriend?" Kirk asked me, ignoring William's question, with an expression on his face that I couldn't quite place. He looked almost disappointed.

I looked at the ground and nodded. William looked to me, then Kirk, and said, "I asked you something, who are you, mister?"

"Oh, I heard you the first time, douchebag. I just didn't feel like answering you," Kirk said, angrily. I looked at him and gave him a wide-eyed, surprised look. He glanced at my surprised face and his expression quickly softened. "Kirk," he said, extending his hand to William.

"Brandt," He introduced his last name and shook his hand, gruffly.

I turned my head towards Sara and gave her a look. She quickly understood and said, "Please don't tell her dad. If he finds out he will be really disappointed and angry."

Kirk was just processing everything while McCoy said, jokingly, "Why would we tell your dad? Do we really look like snitches to you?"

I smiled a bit, so did everyone else. Then, William told everyone that he wanted some alone time with me. As we were about to leave, Sara came to me and hugged me saying, "I swear to god, I still don't like him. See you tonight in our room." I chuckled a bit and said bye.

To my surprise, McCoy hugged me in a 'protective brother' way and whispered, "Are you sure about him?" I hugged him back and whispered, "I'm sure," he pulled back and nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line. It almost looked like he didn't believe me.

I was just about to turn around and leave with William when Kirk grabbed my wrist and held me back. "What? No goodbye hug for me?" he pretended to pout. We shared an awkward one-armed hug and said that we'll meet tomorrow.

I turned to William and saw the anger on his face which he was trying to hide behind a fake smile. He pulled me away from all of them and practically dragged me to the boys' dormitories. I told him I wasn't allowed in there but he somehow sneaked me in without anyone seeing.

As soon as I went through the door of his room, after him, he closed the door behind me and shoved me against a wall. It took me by surprise so I let out a scream and he clamped his hand on my mouth. "I did not give you permission to talk to other boys." He said in a dangerously low voice. He towered over me as I tried to get out of his grip. He removed his hand and I finally shouted, "I don't need to ask for your permission to do _anything!_ " Just as I finished that sentence, he _slapped_ me. I was shocked….and hurt. Tears were falling freely out of my eyes as I put my hand to my cheek. He had never hurt me. I looked up at his face and saw him looking at me with disgust.

"What did I do?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"You're cheating on me, aren't you? At least tell me with who? Kirk or that black-haired guy?" He asked with a sneer on his face.

"I'm not cheating! Why would you even think that?" I exclaimed.

"Are you serious? You were hugging them like you knew them since birth!" He was almost shouting by the end.

"They're just my friends!" I said, trying to keep my tears in. I couldn't believe he was accusing me of such a thing. I looked away and crossed my arms, letting the tears flow. Suddenly, I felt arms snake around my waist and clasp on top of my stomach.

"I'm sorry. I just missed you." He said, I could feel his breath on my neck and it gave me goosebumps.

I turned around in his arms and he leaned down to kiss me, I turned my head just in time so his lips touched my cheek. I put my hand on his chest and said, "Sorry, I-I'm not…um… ready for that."

"It's fine." He said smiling, but there was a bitterness in his voice. Just then, my phone ringed and I picked up on the second ring knowing who it was.

"Where the _hell_ are you?!" Sara shouted into the phone. I looked at the time and realised that I was supposed to be in our room by now.

"I'm coming!" I said quickly. I hastily said bye to William and he replied with a wave. It was pretty easy to sneak out as it was pretty late at night and almost no one was outside.

I reached the girls' dormitories, after a short walk, and put the code in to get inside my room. The lights were off, but I could hear the T.V. playing. I assumed Sara was probably watching a movie. I walked in and saw Sara sitting on the couch with her legs on the coffee table, in front of the couch. The T.V. was playing a Bollywood movie, _Main Hoon Na._ Sara and I loved watching Bollywood movies, by the way. She looked at me, paused the movie, then walked up to me and crossed her arms. I knew that I was in for a big lecture.

 _God help me._

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A/N: Hi people! Here's another chapter into their lives. Hope you liked it! Please review!


	3. Chapter 3: Making New Friends

Chapter 3

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Sara's P.O.V

* * *

"I swear to god, I still don't like him. See you tonight in our room." I told Ash while hugging her, as she was about to leave. It was true, I never liked that guy. First of all, he was probably like 10 years older than Ash, second, he was way too arrogant, lastly, he was rude, to me _and_ her. I have no idea why she was still with him.

I saw McCoy hug her and whisper something in her ear. He pulled back after some time and nodded to her, he didn't look too happy. I would just have to ask McCoy or Ash afterward.

She turned around to leave when Kirk grabbed her wrist and asked, "What? No goodbye hug for me?" I was trying really hard not to smirk or grin while they shared an awkward hug. She said a last 'bye' to us and left with that idiot, William. I have to admit, he was good-looking, but…I would never accept that in front of Ash.

"So," Kirk said.

"I hate him," I said suddenly, making both the guys turn their attention to me.

"How long have they been dating?" McCoy asked.

"About 3 months. But I've talked to him enough to know that he is the worst person anyone could date. I don't know what Ash sees in him." I said. McCoy looked thoughtful while Kirk stared at the ground and I thought he could've burnt a hole in it.

"We should head back," I said. Kirk's head snapped up and McCoy nodded.

"We'll walk you to the girls' dorms," McCoy said.

"Sure," I said. Honestly, who would turn down that offer? But I was a tad bit disappointed that we both wouldn't be alone. Just as I thought this, Kirk said to McCoy, "I'll meet you in our room." He nodded to me and walked away. I was a bit worried about him but I made myself believe that he would be fine.

We reached the girls' dorms and said goodbye to each other. I went to our room and decided to wait for Ash rather than sleep early. _I know right, I'm the best bff anyone could have._ I put on a Bollywood movie which both of us loved, _Main Hoon Na_ , and sat on the couch with my feet stretched out onto the coffee table.

After about an hour, I was so engrossed in the movie that I didn't even hear the door open and Ash walking in. She stood near the door looking a bit guilty. I paused the movie, got up and walked to her, crossing my arms.

"Why are you so late? You know how worried I was?! I thought something bad happened to you. I was literally gonna call the police. You do that one more time and I will chop your head off, or worse, tell your dad!" I rambled on, genuinely, meaning every word I said.

"I lost track of time, sorry. It won't happen again, please don't tell dad," She said, a bit sheepishly. She looked like she really meant her apology and I decided to let her off the hook this time.

"Just don't do it again," I said seriously.

"I promise I won't. You know, you can be scarier than my dad sometimes." She said, smiling a bit. I couldn't hold my smile back and I pulled her to couch and we both continued watching the movie. After it ended, we got ready for bed. We checked our PADD's for any messages. Turns out, Ash's father messaged her, about 5 hours ago, saying that he wouldn't be able to meet them today as he was on a bit of a tight schedule. She replied to the message and turned the lights off. I put our songs, that we usually play at night while going to sleep, on shuffle and low volume.

Next morning, I woke up to the sound of _'No Candle No light'_ by Zayn (Feat. Nicki Minaj), which was playing on full volume. I guessed it was Ash because I could hear her singing and this was a normal occurrence. She often plays music while she's cooking, cleaning, showering…and basically doing anything. I got out of bed lazily and walked into the kitchen to see that she was cooking pancakes. I paused the song and she turned to her right to look at me.

"Oh hey! Good morning, sleepyhead," she said. Smiling at me before turning back to the pancakes to make sure they weren't burning.

"Morning," I said, yawning. I walked to the cabinets and got a coffee mug for myself. "Do you want coffee?" I asked Ash.

"Sure," She replied. I got one more mug and started up the coffee machine.

After eating our pancakes and drinking our coffee, we got ready and headed out to our classes.

"See you at lunch then. Bye!" I said to Ash and she replied with a 'see ya'. Then, we walked to our classes, parting ways.

/Ash's P.O.V/

I was relieved, to say the least. I had a red handprint on my left cheek from when William had slapped me and I was trying to keep it hidden from everyone. I had successfully managed to hide it from Sara and now I was walking to my first class, pathology. I found the room and poked my head in as the door was open. There was no one in there, well, except for the professor, because I was early. He was wearing the Starfleet cadet's red uniform, which I thought was a bit odd, and was writing something on the whiteboard. I knocked on the door and he turned around to face me, a smile on his face. Then it hit me, _L.M. is Leonard McCoy._ Why was he teaching? _I thought he was a cadet like the rest of us._

"Good morning," He said to me. "Surprised to see me here?"

"I _actually_ am. Aren't you a cadet?" I asked.

"I am, but the professor who teaches Pathology had an accident and is in the hospital in a coma. They asked me if I could fill in, seeing as I had the qualifications, and I agreed. So, here I am." He said, smiling and shrugging.

"You have the _qualifications_?" I asked, incredulously. How old was this guy?

"I am a fully qualified doctor and have been for the past…about 5 to 6 years." He said, amused at my questions.

"Wow. How are you still a cadet then?" I asked, curious.

"I still have to, _apparently_ , _earn_ credits." He said with a displeased voice.

"Oh, I get it now. So, you're actually a doctor, that's so cool." I said, intrigued by the mature man.

We talked a bit more before the rest of the students started filing in. He instructed us to take notes and started right away. As he started explaining stuff he had written on the board, I realised how good his accent sounded and how handsome he actually looked. Now I know why Sara is so infatuated with this guy. We got through the class pretty quickly and everyone started leaving after the bell. I stayed behind to invite him to meet me and Sara at lunch.

"I'll bring Jim too," He said, grinning slyly at me. I blushed at that and practically ran out of the classroom. I heard him chuckle and wave a 'bye' at me which I returned with a quick raise of my hand.

I smiled to myself while walking to my next class for the day, mathematics. The room it was in turned out to be a bit farther than I had imagined and I had to practically sprint to get there on time. When I finally reached, I saw that the other cadets were still coming in. I thanked my lucky stars that I wasn't late, I knew the professor teaching us and he was very strict about punctuality, and, well, strict about everything as he was a Vulcan. I guess I could call him a friend because whenever my dad took me to formal Starfleet events and I got bored, he would come to me and just start a random conversation to keep me busy. It was like he could sense my discomfort.

I walked in and saw him sitting on his desk looking at a piece of paper with a list of names on it. I could only assume that it was our attendance sheet. He looked up from the paper as I walked to the front of the classroom. He smiled, or smirked (I couldn't really tell the difference), at me and nodded his head. I nodded and smiled back and chose a seat near a guy with jet black hair.

"Hey, I'm Sulu, Hikaru Sulu," He introduced himself and held out his hand.

"I'm Ash, nice to meet you, Mr. Sulu," I replied, politely shaking his hand.

"I feel like I've heard that name before," He said, narrowing his eyes but still smiling.

"That's because her full name is Ash _Pike_ ," A voice with a thick Russian accent, said from beside our desk. I turned to see a guy with curly, light brown hair, smiling at us. "Hello, I'm Chekov!" He said, excitedly and offered a hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Chekov. I don't need to introduce myself seeing as you know me already." I said, smiling and shook his hand.

"Oh yes! Now I know why you seemed familiar. But aren't a bit too young to join Starfleet?" Sulu asked.

"I am but the authorities checked my results, after I put my application in, and decided to take me in. I guess I just got lucky." I explained. Sulu smirked and nodded his head, looking impressed.

"How old are you?" Chekov asked me, occupying the seat on the other side of me.

"I just turned 14, and you?" I replied.

"I'm 14 too! That's exactly what happened to me!" He exclaimed.

"You guys are making me feel old!" Sulu groaned. We laughed a bit before the class started.

"Good morning cadets, as some of you might know," He looked at me, then addressed the class again, "My name is Spock. You can address me as Commander Spock or just Commander would suffice." Then, he began explaining our course for the year and more technical stuff.

At the end of the lesson, as the students were leaving the classroom, Mr. Spock came to our table. Sulu and Chekov had just left after packing all their stuff.

"I am pleased to see that your application was accepted. I hope you are coping well with this new environment," He asked politely.

"I have settled in pretty well and some credit goes to you too, for letting me have you as a reference for my application, so, thank you, Mr. Spock," I said, appreciatively.

"It was no problem Ash, and as you asked me to call you by your first name when we first met, I insist that you address me just by my name as well," He said, a small smile on his face. "Before you leave, I must warn you to not go out of your dormitory alone at night." He said, in a stern voice that always made me feel like he was a protective older brother.

"I won't, thanks for the concern, Spock," I smiled at him while getting up to leave. "Oh, have you heard from my father? I wasn't able to contact him after yesterday night," I asked him. I hadn't gotten any message back from him after the one I saw last night.

"I'm quite certain he had a meeting with the Admirals this morning. He should be able to contact you after an hour or so," He replied.

"Okay, thanks. Well, I guess I'll see you later then, bye!" I said. He replied with a small 'see you next class' and I left the classroom. The rest of the lessons heading up to lunch were pretty uneventful. I knew most of the professors but didn't have the heart to make small talk with them because I was really hungry and I just wanted it to be lunchtime already. Okay, there _may be_ another reason for me to be waiting for lunchtime, as I was meeting _certain_ people, but mostly I was hungry. As soon as it was lunchtime, I packed up all my things and headed to the mess hall.

When I reached the hall, I saw there were already a lot of people there but Sara, McCoy, and Kirk were nowhere to be seen. Even William wasn't here. Our relationship was… well, a bit on the edge, but still there. I got my tray of food and looked around for any familiar faces to sit with. Someone called out my name and I turned to see Chekov waving at me from where he was sitting with Sulu. I smiled and went over to their table and sat down. We started talking about random things and I was beyond relieved that they didn't ask about my personal life.

"Boo!" Someone shouted in my ear from behind me, jerking me by the shoulders. I jumped up from my chair from fright and swung around to punch the person. As soon as I turned around with my fist ready, I saw Kirk with his hands up in surrender and a frightened expression on his face. McCoy and Sara, who had come with Kirk, started laughing along with Sulu and Chekov.

"Whoa!" Kirk exclaimed when he saw my fist.

"Sorry, It's just my tactical training," I said, sheepishly, pulling back my hand, and blushing madly.

"It's alright," He laughed it off and we all sat together, talking and eating our lunch.

After some time, I could feel someone's eyes on me. I looked up from my tray and saw Kirk looking at my face with an incomprehensible expression on his face. I quickly fixed my open hair so that it hid the bruised side my face. He looked away and joined Sulu and McCoy's conversation.

Everyone had finished their food and were getting up to leave when Kirk pulled me aside into a corridor.

"Why is there a red mark on your cheek?" He said, in a concerned and, kind of, angry voice.

"It's nothing, I just ran into a door," I said looking down.

"Who was it?" he said, lifting my chin up.

"It was William. But it's no big deal! He even apologised!" I added quickly.

"What?! He _hit_ you?!" He whispered, furiously.

"Yes, but he apologised." I said, dejectedly.

"Why didn't you tell anyone, Ash?" He asked, in a softer voice.

"I didn't think it was that important. Plus, this was the first time and he was probably just angry." I replied, looking anywhere but his face. He cleared his throat and I looked up to see him giving me a concerned look. He looked like he was going to say something bad but then he closed his mouth, took a few deep breaths and said, "Promise me. If it happens again, you will tell me. Or Sara or McCoy." I was confused as to why he was being so weird and serious about this but I nodded anyway. He looked less than pleased but nodded and left.

I checked my P.A.D.D. and realised I had a lesson in 5 minutes. I raced to the classroom and managed to get there on time.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, except for when my dad called me to his office after the days' lessons were over. When I reached, I saw that Spock was in the room too, talking to him. As soon as I walked into the room, my dad walked around his table, where he was sitting, and hugged me tightly. I squealed as he picked me up and spun me around once before setting me down with a big smile on his face. I looked at Spock and raised my eyebrow in question, still smiling. He just smirked.

"What's going on?" I asked them both, the smile never leaving my face.

"I just got promoted to Captain of the _U.S.S. Enterprise_!" He said, grinning.

"OMG! That's great!" I exclaimed and hugged him again.

"Yeah, but it's still another three years until it's completely functional." He reminded me before we sat and talked for some time. Spock escorted me back to the dormitories and bid me farewell.

I watched a movie with Sara before going to my bed and sliding under the quilt. That night, I thought about my relationship with William and decided to stay with him. I still felt uneasy about how Kirk found out about the…incident but decided not to overthink it. I laid there trying to relax and eventually drifted off to sleep.

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A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the wait! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4: The USS Enterprise

Chapter 4

* * *

 _Around three years later_

* * *

Ash's P.O.V

"James Tiberius Kirk! You come back here _RIGHT NOW!_ " I shouted while running after Jim. He had snatched my P.A.D.D. and books from me while I was talking to Sara.

"Only if you agree to help me, princess!" He replied without looking back and kept running. Thankfully, I saw Leonard coming out the door of a building we were passing in front of.

"Bones! Catch him!" He turned his head toward me when I screamed and as Jim was running past him, Leonard put one of his hands' in front of Jims' chest. James, being unobservant as always, had turned his head toward me when I shouted. The force from which he had hit Leonards' arm caused him to fall back hard onto the ground. Leonard started laughing at Jim as he was still lying on the ground. I stopped in front of them and put my hands on my knees, panting from all the running. I just realised how hard it was to run in heeled combat boots and the Starfleet regulation red dress-uniform.

Leonard, stuck out a hand over Jim to help him up. He still had my things clutched in his arms which I tried to snatch from him but to no avail. He held the P.A.D.D. in the air in his outstretched arm and I tried to jump to reach it but seeing as my height barely reached his shoulders, it was of no use.

"Bones! Help me!" I whined like a child. Jim and he were about the same height so he could reach my P.A.D.D. easily, which he did. He took it from his hands, a bit forcefully, and gave it back to me before getting all my other things from Jim and handing them back to me too. I said thanks to him relieved that I had gotten all my stuff back.

"Please Ash, come on! It's just one small code to figure out. I know you can do it," He tried to make me help him again.

"I already told you! Unless you tell me what it's for, I won't help you crack it!" I replied.

"I'll tell you after you crack it," He tried again. I heard Leonard mutter something like "I deal with children" but ignored him and went back to our conversation.

"No, Jim! Plus, I'm not that good at codes anyway. Even in class, Gaila's the best code-breaker," I said. Jim's eyes lighted up for a moment before going back to normal, as if he just got an idea. He suspiciously stopped asking me for help and we started walking to the mess hall. Just as we climbed down the stairs, Jim said that he was going to go study for his third attempt at the Kobayashi Maru test after failing badly in the first two. Leonard said something like: "Study, my face." We both knew he won't be studying for anything, just the look on his face told us that he was up to something. After Jim left, Leonard and I met Sara, Chekov and Sulu at the mess hall.

Next morning, Jim told us to be there at the Kobayashi Maru with him. Astonishingly, he actually passed this time. Although I was a bit suspicious at first about him passing so easily, I let it go and congratulated him. He surprised me with a kiss on the cheek and a hug which I returned, laughing. He looked so cute right now with his big smile showing his pearly white teeth.

Everyone was called to an assembly the next day about some "troubling matter", they said. I was sitting between Leonard and Sara with Chekov sitting beside her. Jim sat on the other side of Leonard and Sulu sat on the other side of Chekov. I saw my father looking at me and I smiled at him, he gave me a tight-lipped smile which made him look like he was not happy about something.

I was thinking what it could be that made my dad unhappy, was something bad going to happen? I didn't realise I had zoned out until I heard Jim's name from the Admiral. He was requested to come forward but I didn't know why, probably because I wasn't listening. He looked towards Leonard and I with a confused expression on his face, he got up and walked towards the stand while the Admiral started speaking again.

"Cadet Kirk, evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting that you have violated the ethical code of conduct pursuing to regulation 17.43 of the Starfleet code. Is there anything you care to say before we begin, sir?" The Admiral asked Jim.

"Yes, I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly." Jim said as I looked around for the person who had placed this accusation. To my surprise, Spock stood up and I could see a weird expression on my dad's face, who was sitting behind him, when he saw him stand up.

"Step forward, please," The admiral requested. "This is commander Spock; he is one of our most distinguished graduates'. He has programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last four years," he continued.

Spock walked forwards to his stand. "Commander?" the Admiral asked him to speak.

"Cadet Kirk, you somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine in programming code thereby changing the conditions of the test," Spock said.

"Your point being?" Kirk asked.

"In academic vernacular, you cheated," the Admiral chipped in. I looked to Leonard and Sara with wide-eyes and saw he had an annoyed expression on his face while she had the same expression as me.

"Let me ask you something," Jim scoffed, "think we all know the answer to, the test itself is a cheat, isn't it? I mean you programmed it to be unwinnable," he challenged.

"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario," Spock retorts.

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios."

"Then not only did you violate the rules, you also failed to understand the principal lesson."

"Please enlighten me."

"You of all people should know, Cadet Kirk. A captain cannot cheat death," Spock said. To be honest, I found that a bit offensive.

"I of all people?" Jim said. Clearly, Jim found it offensive too.

"Your father, Lieutenant George Kirk, assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action, did he not?"

"I don't think you like the fact that I beat your test-" Jim started, defensively.

"Furthermore, you have failed to divine the purpose of the test," Spock cut him off.

"Enlighten me again," Jim said. I could see his fists were clenched on the stand.

"The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear, and maintain control of oneself and one's crew. This is a quality expected in every Starfleet captain." Spock said. Jim looked down, he looked embarrassed. I felt bad for him, but at the same time, I was a bit angry too. This was the code he wanted me break.

Everyone turned to the sound of the door being opened and a messenger walked in. He said something to the Admiral and gave him a P.A.D.D.

"We've received a distress call from Vulcan. With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hangar 1, immediately, dismissed," the Admiral said and walked out. Spock looked worried but kept his emotions hidden, as expected of a Vulcan.

Leonard, Sara and I walked down to Jim as everyone started filing out of the hall. Leonard put a hand on Jim's shoulder while I just stood there and crossed my arms, not looking at him.

"Who's that pointy-eared bastard?" Jim asked us.

"I don't know, but I like him," Leonard replied, then Sara looked at me and walked off with Leonard.

"Spock, he's a typical example of a Vulcan," I informed him and started moving to the door. I walked to our room before going to Hangar 1 to put my books away. Reaching the Hangar, I saw Jim and Sara talking.

/Sara's P.O.V/

I walked with Leonard to the Hangar where they separated all cadets into groups. I was looking around for Ash and Jim, none of which were present. I turned toward Leonard to ask him if he knew why they still weren't here but I saw him looking towards the door. I followed his eyes and saw Jim jogging in through the door, his eyes roaming over everyone as if he was looking for someone. He spotted us in the crowd and walked towards us.

"Hey guys, have you seen Ash?" He asked us, looking a bit worried.

"No, I thought she was with you!" I exclaimed. _I knew I shouldn't have left her alone, she's always getting herself into trouble_ , I thought, I felt somewhat like an older sister when I was with her. I always felt protective and knew that she had a knack to find trouble. Jim and I started bickering before Leonard cut us off.

"She's right there," Leonard said calmly before running towards an unconscious body with very familiar black hair. Jim and I ran after Leonard, pushing through the sea of cadets. We reached beside the door where Leonard was crouching over the unconscious body which was in fact, Ash, with his medical kit. Leonard splashed some water from a water bottle, which was inside his medical kit for some reason, on her face and she started to wake up. She blinked her eyes and sat up quickly and looked disoriented for a minute.

"What happened?" She asked after some time.

"You were walking towards us when an idiot came running towards you and knocked you over. You hit your head on the trolley behind you and fell unconscious. There are no injuries except for a swell from where you hit your head. How are you feeling?" Leonard said. So apparently, while Jim and I were arguing like children, Leonard was keeping his eyes open for Ash and he evidently found her. I hugged her and helped her stand up. She thanked me and turned towards Leonard, thanking him too and telling him she was feeling fine.

We all went to our designated areas and waited for our names to be called by the commander in charge.

"McGrath, U.S.S. Farragut. Khan, U.S.S. Enterprise. Macmillan, U.S.S. Odyssey. Raider, U.S.S. Farragut. Brandt, U.S.S. Enterprise. McCoy, U.S.S. Enterprise. Smith, U.S.S. Odyssey. Pike, U.S.S. Enterprise. Welcome to Starfleet, Godspeed," He announced and walked away while everyone started to jog to their assigned shuttles. I looked at Ash and McCoy and smiled, ecstatic about being on the same star ship as them, not only that, on the _U.S.S. ENTERPRISE!_ The only thing bad about it, was that Brandt was assigned to the Enterprise as well, but I would do everything in my power to keep that creep away from Ash, even if they were dating currently.

I pulled Ash along with me to our shuttle and felt her stopping. I turned around to see her looking at Kirk who was talking to the commander who called out our names. Realisation hit me then, Jim's name wasn't called out. McCoy said something to Jim and started walking towards us while Jim stood there looking around like a lost puppy.

He sighed, "damn it," he said softly and went back to Jim.

"Save a seat for me!" Ash said to me and ran after Leonard. I turned towards her to say something but she had already gone. I walked to our assigned shuttle and gave the commander my name and he checked it off on his P.A.D.D. I went inside and sat at a window seat saving the row ahead of me for Leonard and Jim, and saving the seat next to me for Ash.

After some time, I saw Leonard, Ash and Jim walking in. Only, Jim wasn't quite walking, more like being dragged. He had one of his arms around Leonard's shoulder while the other was around Ash's shoulder and both of their arms were either on Jim's waist or holding onto his hand. Ash was looking around when I called out her name. She glanced around, spotted me, then pulled Jim and Leonard with her to the seats I saved. Leonard sat at the window seat and dragged Jim onto the seat next to him. Ash came and sat beside me with a relieved expression on her face.

"What happened?" I asked her, curious as to how Jim was allowed on board even though he had been on academic suspension.

"You know, we couldn't leave Jim behind," she started, "so, Bones gave him this vaccine, which causes severe side effects, to give him the symptoms. As you can see, he can't even stand up or walk on his own, so we half-carried him to the shuttle and told the commander he was Leonard's patient and the law states that he can't leave his patient mid-treatment. So, he let us bring Jim on board," she finished with a smile. We talked a bit more, with Ash constantly asking Jim if he was alright, for which he once answered that he was gonna throw-up.

I looked outside the window and my eyes widened with a surprised and excited look on my face. I nudged Ash and turned towards her to see that she had an awe-stricken look on her face. Noticing Leonard was also in the same trance as us, I saw him telling Jim to look outside.

The Space Station where all the starships were docked was a truly a sight to see but the centre of our attention, abiding there in its glory, was the U.S.S. Enterprise. It looked much bigger than what we'd seen in all the designing stage pictures and diagrams. To say I was excited was an understatement, I was absolutely ecstatic! I'm sure everyone on this shuttle would have agreed with me. The shuttle parked inside the Enterprise's docking station and we all walked out, except for Jim who was, again, being half-dragged by Bones. All four of us went to the Medical bay as Ash and I were assigned head nurses and Leonard was second-in-command after the Chief Medical Officer.

Once we got to the Med bay, Leonard told us to go and change into our uniforms while he deals with Jim. Ash seemed hesitant to leave Jim but came with me anyway. We went to our assigned rooms and found all our luggage already in there. After changing, we walked down to the Med bay and found Jim unconscious on a bed. Ash ran to Leonard, who had also changed into his uniform, and asked him what happened to Jim. He told her that he had given Jim a sedative and that we should get on with our duties. I literally had to drag Ash away from him to start our work on board the Enterprise, which, for the time-being, was organising and prepping medicines; bandages along with other dressings; equipment and make sure everything was ready to accommodate patients, taking into account that we were going as an answer to a distress call.

After some time, Dr. Puri, the C.M.O., came to us and checked us off on his list as if he was taking an attendance of everyone. Just then, Ash's communicator beeped, she took it out to check who it was and saw that it was her father. He was asking if Ash and I wanted to come to the bridge and watch the Enterprise take-off. She excitedly said yes and dragged me to Leonard to inform him we were going.

We reached the Bridge and heard Spock asking Sulu if he had disabled the inertial dampeners I remembered how he always forgot that step even while studying at the academy. Ash asked for permission to come on the bridge which, of course, was granted by Ctn. Pike. I looked at Ash and saw her nodding to Spock as a greeting. I did the same when he looked at me and we walked to the Captains' chair. Ash stood on the right side while I stood on the left, both holding onto the chair.

"Let's punch it," he said and I saw Sulu pushing the lever. Ash and I jerked back as we saw the Enterprise going into the warp bubble. I looked at the majestic blue light surrounding the Enterprise, in awe. I knew Ash had the same expression on her face. Distantly, I heard Uncle Chris telling Chekov to start a ship-wide transmission. I nudged Ash and nodded my head towards Chekov when I saw that the system didn't recognize him because of his accent. We snickered, Chekov turned to look at us and we gave him a sympathetic smile before he tried again. We informed Ctn. Pike and went back to the Med bay.

"Ah, Jim. You're awake. How're you feeling?" We walked into the Med bay and heard Leonard talking to Jim, who was indeed awake and sitting upright but looking a bit lost and panting. Ash suddenly ran towards Leonard and tapped on his shoulder while pointing at Jim's hands.

"Good god man!" Bones said when he looked at Jim's hands.

"What?" Jim asked, still not realising. He looked down at his hands and let out a yelp before bringing them to his face to get a better look. His hands looked really swollen and his face held a pained expression. "What the hell's this?" He asked, freaking out.

"Reaction to the vaccine, dammit!" Leonard started running to get his medical bag. "Sara, I need 50 ccs of cortisone!" he yelled and I ran to the storage cupboard to get the cortisone while he took out his tricorder out of his bag and started scanning Jim.

/Ash's P.O.V./

After Sara and McCoy ran to find the cure, I decided to stay back and keep an eye on Jim. He stood up and tried to walk to a screen but stumbled so I put his arm over my shoulder to help him walk, also because he looked a bit dizzy and it seemed like he would fall down any second. He tapped the latest announcement which was made by Chekov right when Leonard came with his tricorder and started scanning Jim. He listened to the clip and forwarded to the part where Chekov said 'what appears to be a lightning storm in space'.

He suddenly put both his hands on either side of my face and said "we gotta stop this ship," before running out of the Med bay with McCoy, Sara and I right behind him. He stopped at a computer and asked for the location of crewmember Uhura.

"You know, I haven't seen a reaction this severe since med school," I said hurriedly as I held Leonards' medical bag in my arms for him to open.

"Me neither, kid. And that's coming from someone who has been in this profession since you were in primary school." He took out the hypo spray with a refill of cortisone and clicked the bottle inside the slot.

"We're flying into a trap!" Jim said as he took off towards the location of Uhura disclosed by the computer. I closed the medical bag hastily before running after Leonard and Sara who were following Jim.

"Damn it, Jim! Stand still." Leonard ordered before stabbing the hypo spray into Jim's neck.

"Stop it!" Jim yelled while Sara and I put the used hypo spray back in the bag which Sara now held. He glared at Leonard and ran towards the crowd of cadets that were swarming the various screens at the work stations.

When we caught up to him, he had found Uhura and was talking to her, well, more like he was asking her something but she was freaking out over his hands which still hadn't gone back to their original size. I took out my tricorder (all medical staff is equipped with one) and handed Leonard the screen to check for anymore side-effects. I hovered it over Jim's head while he was asking Uhura about some Klingon attack. His words suddenly started slurring by the end of his question and Uhura couldn't understand what he was saying but I could see she was trying her best to help.

"Wha - what's happening to my mouth?" He asked, _slurred_.

"You got numb tongue?" Leonard asked.

"Numb tongue!?" Jim shouted, still slurry, looking frustrated.

"I can fix that!" Leonard told Sara to open his bag and they started looking for the right medicine while I stayed by Jim.

"Was the ship _what_?" Uhura asked. I was completely confused as to what was happening but decided to listen in anyways. He tried to say something but none of us could understand it. He said it one more time and it clicked.

"He's asking, 'Was the ship _Romulan_!" I shouted, pleased with myself that I understood what he was trying to say before Uhura.

"Yes!" She said. Leonard came behind Jim with a hypo spray ready and stabbed it in his neck again, to which I visibly winced.

"Damn it!" Jim shouted, with his numb tongue.

He sprinted at full speed towards the Bridge and only Bones could keep up with him. Sara, Uhura and I trailed a bit behind but still not losing sight of them. He darted onto the Bridge shouting, "Captain!", while Leonard sprinted behind him, yelling to come back. Sara and I stayed out of my dad's sights just in case. If he saw us with a rogue cadet who wasn't supposed to be on this ship, I can only imagine what the consequences would be.

"Captain Pike, sir we have to stop this ship!" Jim said, definitively.

"Kirk! How the hell did you get on board the Enterprise?" My father asked Jim.

"Captain, this man is under the influence of a severe reaction to a vaccine-" Bones started while holding Jim back who started speaking over him.

"Vulcan is not experiencing a natural disaster. It's being attacked by Romulans." Sara and I shared surprised looks before dad started speaking.

"Romulans. Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day. McCoy, take him back to medical, we'll have words later." Captain Pike turned away after McCoy said "Aye Captain," and started pulling Jim back but he got out of Leonard's hands and walked up to dad.

"Sir, that same anomaly-" Jim started but was cut off when my dad said "Mr. Kirk!" and Spock started speaking.

"Sir, Mr. Kirk is not cleared to be aboard this vessel-" That's the last thing I was able to clearly hear before Jim and Spock started speaking over each other. After some more bickering, Jim told Captain Pike about a Romulan ship which was waiting for them to warp into their trap. To my surprise, Spock confirmed Jim's theory but not before Uhura voiced that the message she intercepted and translated proved that the theory was accurate. Captain ordered Uhura to check for any Romulan transmission in the designated area and told Lieutenant Hannity to hail the U.S.S. Truman. As it turns out, all the other ships had reached Vulcan 'but we seemed to have lost all contact'. To add to that, Uhura reported that she couldn't pick up any kind of transmission from that area.

"It's because they're being attacked," Jim said.

Dad walked back to his chair and said, "Shields up. Red alert!" Leonard and Jim started looking around as if looking for someone. Their eyes landed on us and they walked back towards where we were standing. Jim held out his arm in front of me to stop me from falling if we have a rough stop out of warp. Leonard did the same for Sara and I looked at her to find a similar expression of agonizing anticipation mixed with fear of what we might see when we reach Vulcan which was plastered on everyone's face who was on the Bridge.

"Arrival at Vulcan in 5 seconds! 4, 3, 2!" Just after Sulu counted down to 2, the ship jerked out of warp and as expected, I lost my footing and stumbled a bit before Jim's arm acted as a barricade and stopped me from falling on my face. I said a quick thank you and was left horrified by what I saw in front of me. All the Starfleet vessels which left the base before us, were destroyed and there was no chance of any survivors. There was a massive debris field between us and Vulcan.

"Emergency evasive!" My father ordered and all the staff on the Bridge got to work, including Spock. Everyone had started reporting from their stations when the ship was hit by something on its right side and everyone lurched violently. Leonard bumped into Sara which made her knock into me and I fell on Jim, who fortunately caught me, again, before I fell. Sulu and Captain Pike worked together to dodge the debris to get to clear space. Suddenly, everyone went silent as a massive ship, bigger than the Enterprise which is the biggest Starship till date, came into view. It looked like enormous bunched up tentacles made of black alien metal.

"Captain they're locking torpedos," Spock alerted from his station.

"Divert auxiliary power from port nacelles to forward shields!" We turned just in time for one of the torpedos to miss the Bridge but hit the Enterprise a bit lower…where the Med bay is. I asked the nearest lieutenant to pull up the Med bay's camera feed and was shocked. The torpedo blast had left a gaping hole in the west wall of the Med bay and I could see the bodies of my colleagues floating lifelessly. Feeling guilty, I thanked the lieutenant and they got back to work. Sulu told dad that the Enterprise couldn't take another hit like that because the Romulans' weapons were powerful. He ordered to get in touch with the Starfleet command. Just then, Uhura reported that the Romulan ship had lowered some kind of high energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere which was blocking our communications and transporter abilities. Suddenly, a man's face appeared on the view screen. He must be Romulan, judging by the tattoos on his face.

"Hello," he spoke, looking around the Bridge.

"I am the Captain Christopher Pike, to whom am I speaking?" My father asked him.

"Hi Christopher, I'm Nero," he answered. It was considered rude to call the Captain by their first name, when they're on duty, so everyone was a bit offended.

"You've declared war against the federation. Withdraw and I'll agree to arrange a conference with Roman leadership at a neutral location," Ctn. Pike said, his voice taking an authoritative tone.

"I do not speak for the empire. We stand apart. As does your Vulcan crew member. Isn't that right, Spock?" Everyone turns towards Spock to see him standing up and starting to address the Romulan, Nero, directly.

"Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted."

"No, we're not. Not yet. Spock, there's something I would like you to see. Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see by the rest of your armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle, come on board the Narada for negotiations. That is all." The screen minimised, showing us the Romulan ship, Narada, in front of us. I looked to my dad to see what he was going to do. He stood up and started walking to the door. Spock and Kirk started to state how it wasn't safe to go to the Narada alone. Sara and I spoke up too, voicing our concerns.

He suddenly looked towards us and said, "When did you guys come up here? Actually, save it for when I come back." He sounded more disappointed than angry and that made me feel guiltier.

"I understand your concerns. I need officers who've been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat," He announced. I raised my hand as I had taken advanced self-defence lessons. But then he added, "and who's over the age of 18," so I had to put my hand down, reluctantly. In my defence, I am going to turn 18 next year, although my 17th birthday won't be until a few more months.

"I have training sir," Sulu responded, raising his hand. "And I'm above 18," he added, smiling teasingly at me. I stuck out my tongue and crossed my arms.

"Come with me. Kirk, you too, you're not supposed to be here anyway. Chekov, you have the conn." Dad commanded and started walking to the door with Spock, Jim and Sulu trailing behind.

"A-aye, Captain!" Chekov responded. I ran after my dad, ignoring Leonard's and Sara's protests. I heard Leonard tell Sara to go back to the Med bay and I assumed he went with her. Catching up with Sulu, who was bringing up the rear of the group, I asked him what was going on and he explained my dad's plan.

"What?! You guys are free-falling from a shuttle to that drill-machine thingy?!" I whisper-shouted. He told me it would be safe and they would have parachutes but I was not convinced. Jim, Sulu and my dad got inside the elevator and I decided to talk to him.

"Careful with the ship, Spock. She's brand new," Captain Pike said. I walked and stood in front of him with my hands on my hips and looked up at him.

"What are you doing?" I asked feeling helpless and sad that my father was going on, what is basically, a suicide mission, as phrased by Jim. I was on the verge of tears just thinking about him leaving me. He looked at me, told me to come in the elevator and dismissed Spock before pressing the button to the hangar floor. He hugged me and I started crying imagining the possibilities of what could happen if he goes to that enemy ship. "What if he kills you? What am I going to do?" I said quietly, still hugging him. He ruffles my hair and holds me at arms length, smiling sadly, and wipes my tears while I keep my gaze down, sniffling.

"Hey, nothing's gonna happen to me. I'll be back, alive and healthy before you know it. Don't cry, sweetheart. You know it kills me to see you like this. I'll be fine, Ash," he says and I just shake my head and hug him again, crying even more. He tucks my head under his chin and pats my head whispering things to try and assure me that he's gonna be okay. After a few moments, I look up and smile at him, still sniffling but not crying.

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you. Please take care and don't do anything that would put your life at risk. I know it's no use saying this because you're going to do it anyway but still, just think about what would happen to me if you didn't come back-"

"Ash! I _will_ come back, sweetheart! And gosh, you sound _just_ like your mother." He cut my rambling off and said playfully. He pinched my cheeks and turned to give some final orders to Jim and Sulu who were there the whole time watching me break down. I was kind of embarrassed and blushed when they looked at me. When I looked at Sulu, I could swear that his eyes were watering, maybe because he remembered his daughter. He told me about her a while ago, her name was Demora, which I thought was quite unique and interesting.

While dad talked to Jim, I went to Sulu and put my hand on his arm affectionately and gave him a soft smile. He returned it with a small grin and a nod. The elevator reached its destination, my dad looked at me one last time before smiling and kissing the top of my head. "Don't roam around alone, okay? Keep someone with you at all times. See you soon, sweetheart," He said and walked out with Sulu in tow. Jim tapped on my shoulder and I turned around to see his arms open as if asking for a hug. I complied instantly and his strong arms enveloped me. "Do _not_ do anything stupid, you understand me? Just do _not_."

"Yes, ma'am," I pulled away and he gave me a mock salute. He told me to take care and not worry too much about them because they would be fine. He left soon after saying goodbye and I went to the Med-bay still worrying about the boys. Reaching the Med bay, what I saw, completely immobilised me.

* * *

A/N: Hello people! Sorry for the late update! Thanks to _**dragonegyptainblue**_ for reviewing on my story! Thanks to _**Firecrane930, dancergirl829 and dragonegyptianblue**_ for adding my story to your favorites and following list! Special mention to _**Sa Ca Ta**_ for encouraging me to finish the story _during **school** time._

Thanks for reading guys! Please review and let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5: Fights and Delta Vega

Chapter 5

* * *

/Sara's P.O.V./

* * *

"Ash, wait!" I yelled at her to stop as she ran after Captain Pike, out of the Bridge. Leonard was shouting for her to come back too and we both jogged outside to look for her but he decided it would be best if they went to the Med bay to help with the people injured in the blast caused by the Romulan missile. He said that Captain Pike would take care of Ash, and if I didn't know better, I would think that he doesn't care but I knew that he did so there was no point in taking offence.

I followed him to the Med bay and was shocked at the sight before me. There was fire everywhere and bodies splayed out on the floor, some dead, some alive. We got right to it and did our best to extinguish the fire first. Then, we helped the injured people onto beds and tended to their wounds. Bones came up to me while I was patching up a nurse who had a deep cut down her leg which was bleeding profusely. He informed me that Dr. Puri was dead and just then, another blast ripped through the storage deck and we realised that it was probably because of all the chemicals there. Leonard rushed to put out the fire but Spock's transmission halted him.

"Dr. Puri, report."

"Its McCoy. Dr. Puri was on deck 6, he's dead."

"Then you have just inherited his responsibility as chief medical officer," Spock said and I nearly rolled my eyes at his formal language at a time like this.

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know." Bones hurriedly ended the transmission and ran to the storage deck to stop the fire from spreading. I stayed because there were still a lot of people who were injured and I, along with 3 more cadets, were the only ones who were not wounded severely and could help them.

After tending to everyone, I felt like I could just lie down on a bed and sleep as soon as I touch it. Running around all day has that effect on you. I gave in to my body's' pleads and laid on one of the beds in the Med bay; after all, it wasn't as if there were any more critically injured patients around. Sleep easily took over my tired body and I slept without a blanket for the first time.

/Ash's P.O.V./

Coming back to the Med bay, I looked around and saw Sara on one of the bed's looking unconscious. I immediately tensed up and expected the worst while walking to her side. She was like an older sister I never had and if anything was to happen to her, I would blame it on myself. Looking for Bones, I got really confused when I didn't see him around.

"Sara?" I shook her shoulders. She shot up saying, "I'm sorry!".

"For what?" I asked her and she seemed to relax as she turned to face me.

"I thought it was some other doctor coming to tell me off for sleeping on duty," She explained to me and I realised, as I glanced at the patients, that she must be helping them all this time and would be tired. I relieved her and told her to go to her room to take rest. She instantly complied and went to her room.

Bones came in after a few minutes and inquired about Sara. I looked at him with a teasing smile on my face.

"She was really tired, so I relieved her. She's in her room. I'm sure she won't mind if you decide to join her." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, I know she won't mind. But what kind of a friend would I be if I don't let a girl get her beauty sleep." He smiled at me while walking to his office. I chuckled and said, "True." He kept the door open for me and I thanked him before going to his desk and sitting on one of the chairs. He sat on his chair opposite me and took out his PADD.

"So what's Captain Pike's plan?" He asked and I proceeded to tell him about the free fall to the drill that Jim, Sulu and Engineer Olsen were going to make. Bones' eyebrows pulled together in a frown.

"Free fall?" He asked incredulously. I nodded and confessed about the little emotional episode I had in the turbo lift. Just thinking about something happening to dad brought tears to my eyes and I immediately buried my face in my hands. I started going over all the worst-case scenarios in my head and started sobbing harder. Bones came to me and pulled my head into his torso as I was still sitting. I put my hands around him cried a bit more, all the while with Bones rubbing my back whispering encouraging words. I finally stopped crying and pulled away to see that I had left a wet patch on his shirt. I muttered a small 'sorry' to which he just smiled and kissed the top of my head.

"Dr. McCoy!" I heard Sulu's panicked shout outside Bones' office. We looked at each other in confusion and he went to open the door. I stepped outside after him and saw that the Med bay was crowded.

Sulu explained to us how the Romulan, Nero, created a black hole which consumed Vulcan and then collapsed on itself. Spock managed to save some of the Vulcan elders but lost his mother to his planet's demise. Bones and I, along with the other nurses, started to help the elders who were looking a bit shaken up. After finishing up with a Vulcan woman, I glanced around to see if anyone else needed medical attention. There, in the corner, stood Jim, cradling his left arm to his chest, trying to remove his space-jump suit with his one good hand.

"I'm glad you're back," I said, sincerely, as I stalked over to him, med kit in hand.

"I'm glad to _be_ back alive," He uttered with a smile which looked more like a grimace. I held his injured arm in both my hands and began to inspect it.

"It's a bit scratched but I can't feel any broken bones," I voiced my analysis, "So…that's a plus!" I added to lighten the mood. He gazed at me and cracked a genuine smile, despite being in pain. Pulling him, by his uninjured hand, to an unoccupied bed in the Bay, I made him sit on it, which he did rather reluctantly. He kept saying he was fine and I should go help other people in need. That was one of the rarest moments I had heard Jim say something compassionate, what with him being arrogant most of the time.

I wrapped his hand in a white gauze, all the while, feeling his eyes on me. I finished up and quickly turned around to hide my involuntary blush. I heard him chuckling behind me before he wrapped me in a bear hug from behind. I almost fell from the force of it but soon composed myself and held his forearms which were folded over my neck. He swayed us side to side and I couldn't help but smile when he put his chin on my head.

"I _am_ , really, glad to be back alive, you know," he stated earnestly, keeping his arms around me.

"I believed you the first time," I replied.

I saw Bones coming towards us with a teasing smile and a mischievous glint in his eyes. I immediately knew what he was thinking and before he could say anything, I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards us in a group hug. He had a surprised expression on his face and I felt Jim arms tensing up a bit. I had a feeling that I **_may_** have ruined the moment shared between Jim and I but…oh well, it's not like we're together on anything. His arms slowly relaxed and I felt Bones shift a bit to my left side so as to not be face to face with Jim over my head. I heard a familiar squeal before someone jumped on me from my right side and hugged us.

"Yay! Group hug!" Sara yelled and adjusted herself so that she had her face leaned against my right shoulder. Jim's and Leonard's long arms came around us and wrapped us both in a warm cocoon. This suddenly reminded me of how warm dad's hugs were and I might never be able to hug him again. _'Why do you have to do this to me?'_ , I asked my brain and tears started to leak out of my eyes as an answer to my question. _'Damn you, brain! They'll think I'm a cry baby now!'_ , I angrily thought to myself as I tried to quickly wipe my tears in a futile effort. I couldn't move my hands but I felt someone else brushing my tears away, small but soft fingers wiping the salty water from my face. I turned and saw Sara giving me a sympathetic smile which I returned with a small, sloppy grin.

"You say he's from the future, knows what's gonna happen, then the logical thing is to be unpredictable!" Jim suggested, sounding pretty pleased with himself. This argument about whether to gather with the rest of Starfleet or go after the Romulan, Nero's, ship to retrieve Captain Pike had been the point of discussion for the past 5 mins on the Bridge, but it sure seemed like well over an hour with their petty bickering. I did, to an extent, agree with Jim because, if we decided to follow his plan, we could get to my father quicker. But, I was aware that it involved risks and wasn't completely against Spock's reasoning.

They kept quarrelling and the next thing I know, Spock commanded two guards to escort him out of the bridge. Jim being his stubborn self, refused to go without a fight. The two guards came behind him and held both his hands, that was my breaking point. I was infuriated by the fact that Spock would restrain him like this.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?!" I shouted. Everyone on the bridge stared at me, surprised by my sudden outburst. The guards stopped and even Jim stopped struggling in their arms. I walked up to the Captain's chair where Spock was sitting and put my hands on my hips.

"Cadet Kirk seems to be having issues with the current Captain's orders." He said calmly. "Do you have any objections to my decision, Ms. Pike?"

"Yes, indeed I do, Mr. Spock. My father is on that ship, and that means, I'm not going anywhere until we bring him back," I said firmly. Shifting my voice to a softer tone, I continued, "I agree there are risks involved but we shouldn't leave. Even if it is just to gather with the rest of Starfleet. You have to remember, every second we waste arguing like this, my dad is probably being tortured by that psychotic Romulan." I was almost yelling by the end with tears clouding my vision.

I felt someone holding my left arm, effectively stopping me from engaging in any kind of violence against the Vulcan standing in front of me. It was Sara; she started pulling me towards the door and I reluctantly followed while silent tears of rage and frustration rolled down my face. Spock gave my argument no acknowledgment as he sat down, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like _"drama queen"_ and gave the orders to get back to the Starfleet base. Blinded by rage, I snatched my arm from Sara and almost ran up to the Captain's chair.

"Why, you green-blooded hob-goblin!" I hissed while coming to stand in front of him. Forgetting all my past pleasant conversations with him, I pulled my hand back to punch him with all my force. Only to have him grab my fist in mid-air, just inches from damaging his face. He turned me around and twisted my hand behind my back.

"Are you certain of starting a physical fight with me? The statistical likelihood of you winning ar-" I threw my head back, hitting him on his chin and mouth, and effectively cutting him off. His grip on my hand loosened and I took the chance, pushing him with all my might. Though, he recovered and ordered more guards to come and restrain me. I fought them to the best of my abilities but I couldn't overpower them and ended up with each arm held tightly by a guard. In my peripheral vision, I saw Jim still putting up an admirable fight, until Spock interfered that is. He Vulcan pinched Jim just behind his collar bone and he instantly fell to the ground, unconscious. I felt my captor's grip slacken from the surprise of Spock actually using 'the pinch' on someone. Using their surprise to my advantage, I jerked out of their grips and ran towards Jim who was still sprawled out on the floor. I hovered my hand over his nose to check if he was breathing and heaved a sigh of relief when I felt warm air touch my hand.

"Ash!" Feeling a sharp pain over my right shoulder, I heard Leonard and Sara shout my name as darkness overcame me and I fell next to Jim.

/

"Remain in your pod," I opened my eyes while being pulled out of sleep by an artificial voice commanding to remain in the pod. I felt Jim before I saw him. His back was pressed right against my back and I realised we were in a _pod_ for some reason, a relatively small, cramped, _one-person_ pod. _Spock must have sent us off the ship!_ _The nerve of that idiot! How_ _dare_ _he!_

I struggled to turn around and felt Jim doing the same thing. When I finally did, I was shocked to see Jim already facing me and a small smile playing on his lips. I could practically feel his minty breath on my face and feel his chest rising and falling with each breath he took.

"When I dreamed about being this close to you, it wasn't in some clammy pod," He smirked when he saw the blush rising up my neck. I knew it was just playful flirting but I felt my heart flutter thinking he actually dreamt about being this close to me. I glared at him while trying to fight a smile. As much as I would've liked to stay this close to him, it was starting to get a bit too sweaty for my liking and I wanted to get out. But before we needed to know if it was safe outside, after all, the computer was telling us to 'remain in our pod.'

"Where are we?" I asked. Jim shrugged and tapped the screen on the other side of him and inquired our location.

 **"** **Location: Delta Vega. Class M planet. Unsafe. There is a Starfleet outpost 14km to the northwest. Remain in you pod."**

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Jim grunted and turned towards me.

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking, pack a bag with anything important like a first aid kit and some rations. **"** He quickly nodded and I started looking for bags. Scanning near my feet, I saw 2 bags which looked like they were full. I bent, as much as I could, and pulled them up to inspect the interior. I was surprised with what I found. It had a big and warm jacket along with a GPS, communicator and some ration packs. I checked the other bag and it had the same things in it. I had a feeling Leonard and Sara had something to do with this. Giving Jim one of the bags, I unlocked the pod and saw the deep icy hole we were in. There was no other way but to climb to the top. After we helped each other put our jackets and backpacks on, we decided to start climbing.

After a few slips and winces, we managed to reach the surface and found that there was nothing but ice and snow on this planet. Reaching for my GPS in my pocket, I took it out and located the Starfleet outpost. We started walking northwest as shown by the GPS, pushing through the cold and icy winds.

"Stardate 2258.42. Or…or whatever," Jim took out his communicator and started yelling into it because of the loud wind. "Acting Captain Spock has marooned Ash and me on Delta Vega. What we believe to be a violation of security protocol 49.09 governing the treatment of prisoners aboard a star shi-" He abruptly stopped speaking which made me look up at him through the overhang of my hood. Standing still, I heard a distant roar over the howling wind and watched as Jim turned around. He squinted his eyes as if to look more clearly and, being the curious freak I am, I turned around to see for myself.

A four-legged monkey-like creature was barrelling towards us at an astonishing speed with his mouth open in a growl. I could just make out his fang-like teeth before Jim pulled my hand in the other direction and we ran like our lives depended on it because in this case, it _actually_ did.

Suddenly, the ground shook beneath us causing me to fall with Jim dropping on my legs. I turned around and saw a huge red creature which looked like a cross between a Demogorgon (an interdimensional beast whose face opens up like a flower and has thousands of pin-like teeth) and a crab or a spider. The point is; it was disgusting.

It emerged from beneath the surface and picked up the monkey-like creature with its mouth, like it was a chip, and threw it at least a hundred meters away. We froze and kept staring at it in shock. My whole body was trembling in fear while Jim kept me from completely collapsing, keeping his arms around me. It took a glimpse at us and brought its face right in front of us. I could see its sharp teeth and the saliva strings stretching from the creature's mouth when it roared in our faces.

Jim turned me around and nudged me to run. Honestly, I didn't need to be told twice so just like that, we started sprinting to save our lives _again_. Only this time, the predator behind us was ten times larger than the previous one. And more terrifying.

The muscles in my legs were burning from overexertion but I kept on running until unexpectedly, there was no ground under my feet. I was rolling down a steep, icy, wet and rough slope which seemingly, didn't have an end. Screaming loudly enough to crack glass, my body slammed onto the hard surface on the ground. Within a millisecond, my breath was knocked away by Jim who fell on top of me. Well, at least one of us had a decent landing.

I looked over Jim's shoulder to see that the creature we were running from was also suffering the same fate as us. I would've laughed at the sight of this huge mammal rolling down if I hadn't realised that we were going to be crushed by it landing on top of us. I pushed Jim off me and we started running towards a cave with the monster chasing us.

As soon as we stepped inside the cave, I felt a searing pain shoot through my left leg and something pulled me hard. I fell head-first into the snow below and was being dragged back. BY THE ANIMAL WHO HAD LATCHED ITS MOUTH ON MY LEG. I closed my eyes and started screaming like I was getting murdered because quite frankly, I WAS.

"You're gonna be alright Ash!" Jim shouted while shooting the monster with his Phaser on kill mode as an attempt at diverting its attention. All the while, I was getting hauled closer to the thing's mouth.

Suddenly, my leg dropped to the ground heavily which caused a shot of pain up my leg. But that meant the monster was gone! I opened my eyes and saw Jim running over to check if I was okay. I also saw another man holding a stick with fire lit on one end, who looked strangely familiar but I couldn't place who it was.

I immediately hugged Jim and thanked the gods for keeping me alive. He returned my hug with equal force and we sat there for some time before the other man cleared his throat.

"James T. Kirk and Ash Pike," he said with a firm voice.

"Excuse me?" Jim replied, understandably surprised that this random person knew our names.

"How'd you both find me?" The stranger asked us and we looked at each other in confusion.

"Wha- wait…how'd you know our names?" Jim asked, pulling us both to a standing position. Well, I wasn't really standing because my left leg was completely numb and was bleeding. Jim was supporting most of my body weight with one of my arms around his shoulders.

"I have been, and always shall be, your friend," He stated with a sad expression in his eyes which made me curious.

"Wait," Jim started chuckling humourlessly, "We don't know you."

"I am Spock." I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. _I guess that's why he looked familiar._

/Time Skip/

 _On the way to the Starfleet Outpost_

"How much further is it?" I asked while panting really hard because I had refused Jim's support a short while back and said I could walk on my own. And, let me just put it this way, _limping_ for more than 3km is neither fun nor easy.

"There it is." Spock Prime pointed ahead of him and I looked over his shoulder to see a structure which wasn't high but rather sprawled out. It didn't look too far away, so, I guess that's a good thing? Right?

 _Wrong_

We started walking and then I realised, the path is going _steeply_ _downhill_. I tried my best to keep up with them while trying not to trip on my own two feet but failed badly. I lost my footing and started rolling down the hill, uncontrolled, with Jim and Spock Prime chasing after me. At last, I stopped near the bottom but hit my head on something really hard.

I saw Jim hovering over me with a worried look on his face, he started shaking me and telling me to keep my eyes open. I struggled against the urge to just close my eyes but failed and gave in to the darkness.

 _"_ _Ash!"_


	6. Chapter 6: New Revelations

Chapter 6

* * *

/Jim's P.O.V./

* * *

"How much further is it?" Ash asked us. She looked like she was out of breath and very tired. I love the fact that she is more than capable of helping herself but sometimes, she can get very stubborn. She was literally _limping_ the entire distance we covered. I offered to support her every 5 mins along the way but she denied my help every _single freaking_ time.

"There it is." Spock point- sorry, Spock _Prime_ , pointed. I just can't get over the whole time-travel thing he convinced us about. I mean, _from the future_, like really? And to think that Spock and I, supposedly, become friends in the future is a bit far-fetched really.

While walking on the snowy downhill path, I heard a small shout from behind me. I knew it was Ash just by her voice and turned around to see what she had gotten herself into this time. Just as I swivelled back, I felt a rush of wind hit my face and I looked down to the source. As expected, Ash was in trouble, _again_ and it wasn't just anything. _She was rolling down the hill_.

We ran after her in hopes of stopping her before she hit the bottom. I watched as she continued to pick up speed and finally stop near the base. I was just wondering how she managed to halt by herself when I saw blood trickling down her face. Dreading the outcome, I touched the back of her head and, as expected, I felt something warm and wet. I brought my hand back to see it was covered in blood.

"You have to stay with me, Ash! Don't close your eyes!" She didn't look like she was going to stay conscious for long so I shook her a bit to keep her awake. She looked at me, eyes glazed over, and I could see the pain in them. I could see she was trying to stay awake.

That didn't last for long, she closed her eyes and for a painstaking second, I thought I had lost her. But I checked for a pulse and almost leaped with joy when I found one. She was just unconscious. _Not a big deal, right?_ _She'll be fine. I'll just carry her the rest of the way._ I decided, with an unsure smile on my face and tears threatening to leak from my eyes. I quickly took a piece of cloth, which Spock Prime was carrying for some reason, and tied it around Ash's head to try and slow the bleeding.

I saw Spock Prime looking at us with a knowing smile on his face but I didn't give any thought to it and went ahead to lift Ash. I placed one arm under both her knees and the other around her shoulders and carried her 'bridal style'. Spock Prime helped put her arm around my neck and I looked at him strangely. I felt like he was hiding something from me. _No time for that now though, have to_ _get Ash to safety and treat her injury._ I decided I'll just ask him later and we set off again.

After walking through a mild snow storm for around 10 minutes, we finally reached the metal double doors of the Starfleet outpost. Spock wrenched open the left side of the door and held it open for me, which I thanked him for. We quickly got inside and he closed the door with a bang. I looked down at Ash, who's head and face was covered with her jacket's big hood. I felt her stir a bit before her eyes fluttered open.

She looked thoroughly disoriented for a minute before letting out a pained grown. She brought her hand up to her cloth-covered head and winced as she felt the hot, sticky blood through the material. She looked at me, still in a daze. Her expression was as if she didn't remember me.

 _Did her head get hit hard enough for her to lose memory?_

My heart dropped at the thought. _What if she doesn't remember me? Or Bones? Or Sara?_

 _Sara would be heart-broken if that happened. But before that, Bones and her would kill me for not taking care of Ash._

"Jim, we need to move," Spock Prime interrupted my train of thought. I welcomed the distraction and looked ahead to see a strange creature running towards us. Ash was unconscious again and now I was really worried.

The creature led us through the long corridor and we reached a big warehouse. I looked around and saw many mechanical tools spread out on a desk. On the chair in front of the desk, was a man, wearing a beanie, who appeared to be sleeping with his feet propped up on the desk and a piece of cloth covering his face. The creature walked up to the desk and slapped the man's feet which seemed to be a natural occurrence.

"What!?" the man shouted at the creature, understandably not happy being woken up like this. He pulled the piece of cloth off his face and looked in our direction. He looked surprised for a split-second but quickly changed to being stern.

"You realize how unacceptable this is?" He asked us. I stood there confused and looked at Spock who had the same expression on his face.

"Fascinating," the latter said.

"What?" I asked him to try contemplate what he thought of as fascinating in this situation.

"I am sure you're just doing your job, but could you not come a wee bit sooner? Six months I've been here. Living off Starfleet botty nips and a promise of a good meal." I looked at him sympathetically. He pointed at us and continued, "And I know exactly what's going on here. Ok? Punishment, isn't it? Ongoing. For something that was clearly an accident!"

"You're Montgomery Scott." Spock said as realization hit him.

"You know him?" I asked, just how much information did this guy have.

"Yeah, it's me. You're in the right place. Unless there's an equally starved Starfleet officer around." Mr. Scott said, to which the creature responded, "Me!" but was quickly shut up.

"You aren't doing anything. You can eat, like, a bean and you're done. I'm talking about food, real food," He finished berating the creature and turned to us. "But you're here now. So, thank you." He looked around us and asked, "Where is it?".

I was about to explain our situation when Ash stirred in my arms a bit. I looked around for an empty table to lie her, kind of, conscious body on and found one near, what looked like, a dismantled shuttle. I could faintly hear Spock and Mr. Scott talking about the latter's theory of transwarp beaming. The creature came up to me as I gently laid her down and unwrapped her head. The cloth was completely soaked in her blood and I could only imagine how much it would hurt when she completely came to her senses.

The creature brought a first aid kit and got to work bandaging up her head like a professional. He looked like he knew what he was doing so I turned my attention back to the two men who were still talking. Walking up to them, I heard Mr. Scott say something about sandwiches and looked at Spock. Quickly summarizing in my head that he must've told Mr. Scott that he's from the future, I decided to join in the conversation.

/Time Skip/

/Ash's P.O.V./

 _What is going on? Why does my head hurt so much? Where am I?_

Slowly opening my eyes, I see a dark warehouse with specks of light strewn across the high ceiling. I also see a pair of unfamiliar black beady eyes, attached to a very green and scaly head, staring at me. I'm not surprised to see any more aliens after the encounter with the big scary one. It touches my head and I flinch. It backs away while I remember how I got hurt. I gasp and sit up hastily. _Not a good idea._ My head spins but I don't lay back down putting my head in my hands.

"Ash?" A voice softly calls me. _I remember that voice…who is it…come on Ash!_ I feel a hand on my shoulder and I look up.

"Jim?" _Why do you suddenly look so good?_ Relief spreads over his face and his shoulders relax a bit.

"How are you feeling? I'm glad to see you remember me," He chuckles and a blush spreads over my face. _Why am I so affected because of his laugh?_

"I'm fine. My head still hurts and feels very heavy but I'll survive, I guess."

"I always told you how big your head was, maybe now you'll understand," He punched my arm playfully and we laughed together.

"Guess what," He started, "we…are going back to the Enterprise!"

/Time Skip/

"So, how does this work again?" I asked nervously as I stood inside a 'transwarp beaming shuttle'.

"Don't worry, Ash. We'll be fine," He gave my hand a squeeze before getting into a conversation with Spock Prime. As it turns out, Spock isn't coming with us but Mr. Scott, or Scotty, is.

"Ready? Let's go!" As soon as he said 'go', I felt a tingling sensation all over my body and the next thing I knew, I was on the Enterprise.

I looked around and saw that Mr. Scott was nowhere to be found. Jim heard voices from inside the water turbine container and quickly summarised that Mr. Scott had landed inside the turbine and was currently being pulled through the pipes which we were following.

We found the controls and Jim started typing away while I wondered how he knew all this as he didn't even pay attention in classes. He opened a hatch and Mr. Scott fell out with a lot of water accompanying him.

As expected, the open hatch triggered an alarm while Jim grabbed my hand and gestured to a very soaked Mr. Scotty to follow us as we started running. I cursed in my head reminding myself that we couldn't run forever because we were in a _godforsaken_ _starship!_ We ran up a short flight of stairs where we were surrounded by some guards. The leader of the group seemed familiar though I couldn't place why.

"Halt! Come with me, _cupcake_!" The leader spoke. _Cupcake?..._ oh! It's that guy from the bar fight. I scoffed at his petty nickname and I felt two hands grab my arms, twisting them behind me. I yelped and tried to move but it was to no avail. The guy wouldn't budge.

"Hey!" Jim yelled, "We're coming with you. You don't need to be so harsh." The guy holding me pushed me forward telling me to walk faster but I almost tripped. "Get your hands off her!" Jim screamed at the guy.

His hands loosened for a second and I tried to take advantage of that but he returned his vice-like grip not 2 seconds later. _How did people in movies do this?!_

We finally reached the bridge and walked in, well, in my case, I was almost dragged in. I surveyed the room before me and saw McCoy and Sara looking at us with furious eyes, more like looking at our handlers. McCoy jogged the short distance and stopped in front of me while Sara went to Jim.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He seethed through gritted teeth to the guy holding me. I immediately felt my hands being freed and hugged McCoy around the waist. I was almost tearing up from all the pent up stress from the past few hours, spanning from the capture of my father to the animal attacking us, when I heard Sara yelling at Jim's captors to let him go.

"I swear, I will _kick_ some sense into you if you guys don't leave him this instant!" Sara said, trying to sound intimidating but looking like an angry puppy. McCoy and I walked to where she was standing and Jim's two captors slowly looked at each other while backing away. I was confused as to why they gave up so easily until I looked up at McCoy's face. To be honest, even _I_ felt a little scared seeing him like this, he looked like he could kill someone without even blinking his eyes and I had never seen an expression so intense on his face.

Jim quickly jogged over to Spock, with Mr. Scott following him, as if he was not even a bit perturbed about seeing Bones like this. _But with his antics, he probably gets this look every day,_ I thought. Turning around, I felt Sara crushing me into a hug which I returned with equal enthusiasm. I broke down then, the severity of the situation suddenly weighing down on me. Sara patted my back supportively and I couldn't have been more grateful for her in this moment. I pulled back and was just about to thank her when I heard Jim yelling.

"It must not even compute for you. You never loved her!" Kirk shouted, getting in Spock's face but that didn't last long. Spock's scream cut through the bridge like a spear. He began punching Jim and slammed him onto the control panel with his hands choking him. I tried to run towards them because I could see Jim was very close to passing out but Sara held me back and shook her head at me.

"Spock!" We all turned to look towards the sound and saw, who I assumed was Spock's father. Spock suddenly let go of Kirk as if he just realised what he was doing.

I ran towards Jim, passing Spock, as he started coughing violently gasping for air. Running my hand up and down his back, I noticed that he seemed to be recovering quickly. It made me wonder why he provoked him in the first place, I mean, Jim loves his fights but would never insult someone like this.

"What the hell was that?" I asked him when he finally stopped coughing.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." He said sarcastically while I glared at him.

"I like this ship! You know, it's exciting!" Mr. Scott said, his Scottish accent doing little to ease the tension on the bridge.

"Well congratulations, Jim. Now we've got no captain and no goddamn first officer to replace him." McCoy said, looking very fed up.

"Yeah we do." Jim said, walking over to the Captain's chair. _What?,_ I thought.

"What?" McCoy asked, voicing the question in my head.

"Pike made him first officer," Sulu said, I briefly remembered that dad was talking to Spock and Jim when I was following behind them. _Jim as Captain of the Enterprise? It was something he always wanted but like this?_

"You've got to be kidding me." McCoy said, I glared at him.

"Thanks for the support." Jim said sarcastically. I started walking over to him when Uhura crossed me.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing, _captain_ ," Uhura said with a venomous tone. I looked at her as if trying to shut her up.

"So do I," Jim said with a nervous hint to his voice. I felt my heart go out to him in that moment. He started the announcement and I know no one noticed the slight tremble in his voice as he finished. I put my hand on his shoulder and as if he already knew who it was without turning around, he covered my hand with his, holding it tightly. I walked to the front of his chair and gave him a reassuring smile.

"You're gonna do great," I said, trying to cheer him up. "We believe in you." I nodded towards Bones, Sara, Sulu and Chekov. To my surprise, all four of them were already looking at us and smiling.

"Thanks, I guess I didn't realise it but I needed that." Jim finally cracked a smile. I got up and left to talk to Sara as they started brainstorming a plan to get to the Romulan, Nero.

"Where is he?" I asked Sara, knowing she would understand who I was referring to.

"Why do you still want to talk to him? Has he bothered to talk to you even once during this whole situation?"

"Maybe he was just busy. I'm sure he would have asked for me if he had free time." I said, defensively. "Can you show me Will's room, please?"

"Are you sure? I still don't like him one bit and you know why." It was true, he didn't have much of a cheerful personality but I guess I just liked his mysterious aura when I started dating him. "Fine, I'll show you. I don't want to see his face though, I'll leave you at the door." She said, silently fuming at my stubbornness.

After walking for about 2 mins, we stood in front of his door. I felt Sara take my hand and squeeze it, "Be careful, please. Page me if something happens. You do have your pager don't you?" She asked, referring to the pager all nurses and doctors kept aboard starships for medical emergencies. I nodded and patted my pocket.

"Thanks." I said and she walked away, seemingly still sour about my choice. I knocked on his door a few times before he came out with his hair askew and still wearing his uniform.

"Hey!" I said hugging him, finally getting to see him after all the rough events that took place in a matter of a few hours. I pulled away when I realised that he didn't hug me back.

"Will? What happened? Are you okay?" He seemed frustrated by the way he clenched and unclenched his fists. Just then, a girl, older than me by at least 10 years, walked up to Will and kissed his cheek, hugging him from behind. I looked on with tears in my eyes as my heart dropped, feeling like I was being choked by a barbed wire, I turned around and ran.

I didn't care where I was going, I just wanted to get away from him. _Sara was right, I shouldn't have trusted him._

"Ah!" I yelped through my tears as I bumped into someone and fell. I didn't bother looking up and stayed on the ground, crying my heart out. I could faintly hear the person apologising and asking if I was okay. When I didn't reply, they picked me up by my upper arms and I tried to stop the tears as I realised who they were.

"Ash?" It was Spock, it looked like he had just gotten out of the transporter room with his father. Without any warning, I hugged him, trying but failing terribly to keep my tears in check.

"Are you okay?" Spock asked as he awkwardly patted my back. I shook my head and pulled away, still sniffling. Wiping my face on my sleeve, I told him 'I'll be fine' but he didn't look too convinced. He took me to my room, which wasn't too far away, and told me to wash my face quickly and then go with him to the bridge. He didn't ask any further questions but I could see he wanted to. _I'll tell him once this is all over._

After freshening up, still feeling heavy-hearted, we went to the bridge. I decided to suppress my emotions for the time being, we already had a lot to worry about without my relationship problems and I knew that if Sara, Jim or Bones found out, they would probably be plotting Will's murder. When we reached the bridge, Spock went over to Bones, Jim and Sulu while I went to Sara and Chekov.

"So, what are we up to?" I asked, eager to take my mind off everything and help them. Sara gave me a look which usually meant 'You have to explain yourself later'. I nodded.

Chekov explained his plan while Sara and I checked over his schematics. I double-checked all his calculations, I was astonished to find it all accurate and feasible. All three of us ran over to where Jim, Bones, Spock and Sulu were talking. We explained Chekov's plan with detail and it seemed that Mr. Scott was also there who thought the plan could work.

"Wait a minute kid, how old are you?" Bones said.

"17, sir."

"Oh good, they're 17 accompanied by a 19 year old," Bones said, making Sara and I narrow our eyes at him.

"Doctor," Spock spoke after he silently listened to Chekov's plan. " Mr. Chekov, Ash and Sara are correct. I can confirm their telemetry. If Mr. Sulu is able to manoeuvre us into position, I can beam aboard Nero's ship, steal back the black hole device," He slowly looks at me and continues with determination in his eyes, "and if possible, bring back Captain Pike."

I gave him a grateful smile and reminisced how strange the start of our relationship was. From the time he used to keep me company during those boring parties to the last few years at the academy. We had, _still have_ mind you, a strong brother-sister bond that we'd never talked about but we knew it was there, from the way he helped me whenever I needed it without hesitation and the way I understood the emotions behind his eyes that he never let show.

"I can't let you do that Mr. Spock," Kirk's voice broke me out of my stupor. I looked at him and tried to understand his point of view. If Spock went all alone to an enemy ship, although he is more than capable of handling himself, he would probably not survive. _I should go too, after all, my father is there too._

"Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry. Our cultural similarities will make it easier for me to access the ship's computer and locate the device." Spock said, _It makes sense,_ I thought. "Also, my mother was human. Which makes Earth the only home I have left." I looked at him and felt the urge to comfort him.

"I'll go with you," I said. "Please! I need to know if my dad's okay." Surprisingly no one tried to stop me, not even Bones and Sara. They both gave me looks of sympathy while Jim looked like he really wanted to argue but held it in.

"I'm coming with you." Jim said in a definitive tone.

"I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it." Spock said and I couldn't agree more.

"See? We are getting to know each other." Jim told Spock as he slapped his shoulder and walked past. Spock looked at me and raised his eyebrow while I just shrugged at him.

Everyone went to work after a while and Sara pulled me aside to ask me what had happened with ' _that idiot_ '. I knew she was talking about Wil- _Brandt._ I told her everything that happened including how Spock found me crying. I had no tears in my eyes as I was reciting the story. I realised after I finished that it didn't hurt as much. Maybe the initial episode of crying was just from the shock that he betrayed me. I found that I didn't really care about him that much.

"Am I a bad person for not moping around?" I asked her. She had way more experience than me at breakups….In a good way.

"Absolutely not! You've been dating him for like three years now! That's too long for being with one person anyway…unless you're married of course. But you're not! So I guess you just got bored of him but tried to talk yourself into still staying with him." Sara's words made me realise that maybe I did just get bored of him. _Clearly he did too._ Was that his first time betraying me or had he done that before when we together too? _I've been letting him fool me all this time._

"I guess you're right." I was ready to forget him and move on. "I don't want to think about him anymore."

"You know what? I'm proud of you." She actually did look proud and hugged me tightly. "Let's go, you need to speak to the captain for the plan!" She said with a sly smile and a mischievous glint in her eyes. I narrowed my eyes at her, knowing what she was implying.

"Stop. I know what you're thinking. There's nothing like that between us." I told her trying to sound stern but with an uncertain tone in my voice and the tiniest smile on my face. It would be a lie if I said I didn't think Jim was an absolute charmer. He was, no doubt, very popular among the female population at the academy. But there was a different side to him that he didn't generally show to anyone, well anyone except Bones, Sara and me. He could be kind and sincere when he wanted to and… _and why am I rambling about him?_

 _Do I like him after all?_

* * *

A/N: Hi guys! So sorry for being sooooooo late to update! I'd like to thank all of you who stuck with this story and motivated me to keep updating!

Also, I am planning a Sirius Black/OC fanfiction! Would you read it?

Please review and tell me how you feel about it!


	7. AUthor's Note

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry, this is not a chapter update.**

 **I'm kind of losing motivation for this story as no one is reviewing. I'll still try to complete it to the best of my abilities for the people out there who are enjoying my story (if there are any).**

 **Also, I'm starting a Harry Potter fanfiction set in the Marauders Era which will essentially be a Sirius x OC but with a heavy plot. Please let me know if anyone would be interested in reading it and help me with some ideas!**

 **Thank you! Stay safe and review!**


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